The second layer of the covering of the tabernacle was made of goats’ hair (Exo. 36:14). According to the parable in Matthew 25:31-46, the goat represents a sinful person. Furthermore, the hairs of the goat represent the sins coming out of the sinful person. Therefore, while the first layer represents Christ as our righteousness before God, the second layer represents Christ becoming sin for us (2 Cor. 5:21). He is the One who knew no sin, but became sin for us. The first layer signifies Christ as the One who knew no sin, the righteous One and our righteousness before God, but the second layer signifies that in the eyes of God, when Christ was on the cross, He became sin for us.
Concerning the curtains of goats’ hair, Exodus 36:16 says, “And he joined five of the curtains by themselves, and six of the curtains by themselves.” The layer of goats’ hair is not composed of ten curtains, but of eleven. Eleven is something more than ten but short of twelve. In the Scriptures ten is a positive figure, representing human completion. Twelve, in the Scriptures, is also positive, representing eternal perfection (Rev. 21:12, 14, 16). However eleven, greater than ten and short of twelve, is not positive. A person with eleven fingers would appear wrong and abnormal. Eleven is something beyond that which was meant to be and indicates sinfulness. Sin is something extra which was not meant to be. The eleven curtains represent sin itself. Sin spoils the completion and the perfection of man before God.
With the layer of goats’ hair, the numbers seven and eight cannot be found. You cannot derive seven because the length of the curtains of goats’ hair is thirty cubits instead of twenty-eight (Exo. 36:15). This indicates that there is no resurrection or completion due to the involvement of sin.
With the first layer of fine twined linen, there were fifty loops of blue on each joining of five curtains (36:11-12). Furthermore, these loops were joined by golden clasps (v. 13), representing the divine nature. The joining power for the building of God, the church, is the heavenliness and the divine nature of Christ. If we lose the heavenliness and the divine nature of Christ, we will automatically be separated, for there will be no joining power between us. The more we are in the heavenliness and the more we are in the divine nature of Christ, the more we are strengthened to be joined together. With the second layer of goats’ hair, however, the clasps were made of bronze rather than of gold. Bronze, in type, represents judgment, trial, and testing. Because the second layer signifies that Christ became sin to be judged by God, the joining power here is the ability to be judged, tested, and tried. The power to suffer the judgment, test, and trial of God and even the tests of Satan is the joining power of the second covering of the tabernacle.
The third layer of the covering was made of rams’ skins dyed red (36:19a). A ram is a male and the dyeing of red signifies the shedding of blood for redemption. The third layer signifies that Christ was slain on the cross, shedding His blood to redeem us from our sins.
The last layer of the covering was porpoise skins, the protection and safeguard for the tabernacle. Christ, who is the righteousness of God, became sin in the eyes of God and died, shedding His blood to redeem us from our sins and becoming the protection and the safeguard of the church. From the inside, the tabernacle looks very beautiful and glorious. But from the outside, it appears very coarse. It is the same with the church. If people come into the church, they will see the beauty of Christ and the glories of Christ. But when viewed from the outside by the worldly people, the church seems worthless and coarse, like porpoise skins. However, this worthless looking layer is the enduring strength of the church to stand against all manner of attacks.